


Another Life

by TinselPyre



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Substance Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-08 12:17:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13458081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TinselPyre/pseuds/TinselPyre
Summary: Who would Emma Swan have been if she had been cursed along with everyone else in Hyperion Heights? And if so is there any room for a savior in this new curse? Can be read as a stand alone or as a sequel to Kind Of.





	Another Life

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own OUAT. Deals with history of substance abuse.

       Roni glared at the blonde absolutely speechless and unwilling to believe what she was seeing. Eileen Bishop, she had just been mixing up a Manhattan when the woman waltzed through the doors of her establishment, like nothing had ever happened.

“Roni”, she greeted flashing that charming fucking smile. A smile that had gotten countless women across several different time zones to drop to their knees, and their backs.

Eileen began to walk towards the bar and in an unexpected fit of rage the brunette hurled the bottle of whiskey at the woman. The blonde quickly ducked and heard as the bottle shattered against the wall, watching as people’s attention went from their drinks to her.  

“JESUS, RONI!”

“No. You. Out. Now!” She shouted marching out from behind the bar and trying to shove the other woman out the door.

The blonde dragged her feet trying her best to stay put, but apparently the brunette was strong enough to slowly inch her towards the door.

"Come on baby, don’t be like this. I just want to talk.”

“No and my name is not baby.”

“No it’s...

“Roni is there a problem?” Henry asked walking towards the women puffing out his chest in hopes of intimidating this blonde woman that seemed to have Roni so agitated.

“Save the hero act kid,” she smiled and then turned her attention back to Roni, “If I were any kind of real threat she would have grabbed that Louisville slugger she keeps behind the bar.”  

Being this close to the other woman Roni was given the opportunity to look more closely at the blonde she had seen neither hide nor hair of in nearly seven years. _Damn it_ , Roni thought, Eileen was still beautiful, after what she had done to her the brunette had hoped that the woman had befallen some terrible face marring accident, or at least lost her hair or something. She was embarrassed to realize that when she had been fantasizing about Emma Swan it had been Eileen she had been picturing. Although in her defense if Henry had revealed that the woman had somehow been used as a character model she would not have been at all surprised.

“Henry, I’ve got this,” she said nodding her assurance towards the young man.

“Eileen, if you don’t leave now I will call the cops. No doubt they’d be interested in knowing where you are.”

“No, I put all that bullshit behind me. Look, I’ve been thinking a lot about you lately and I was hoping that we could maybe talk.”

“Well then you are more than welcomed to go outside and perform a monologue for anyone who will listen, but I won’t be one of them.”

Roni opened the door and made an arm motion for her to leave, the blonde hesitated for a moment but complied and left the establishment of the only woman she had ever truly loved.

        Two thirty rolled around and it was time for Roni to close up for the night, after what had happened that afternoon the brunette was more than ready to go home and crawl into bed, but as she was locking up she noticed a figure leaning up against the wall.

“What are you doing here Eileen,” she asked annoyed. "I told you I didn’t want to see you.”

“You told me to get out of the bar you never said you didn’t want to see me.”

“The message was implied.”

“Oh really, well you know me. Always need the writing on the wall.”

“Yes, I do know you and that is exactly why I want nothing to do with you.”

The brunette pocketed her keys and moved past the blonde, knocking into her shoulder as she did.

The blonde watched the other woman walk away and was conflicted about whether or not to respect her former girlfriend’s wishes or not. But she had spent the last week sitting in her car outside the bar to terrified of stepping foot inside of it and now that she had she would not be deterred.

“Wait,” she called out running after her. “Here, it’s two thousand two hundred and thirty-nine dollars to replace what I stole from you and a seventy dollar bottle of MacCutcheon to replace the one you threw at me.”

Roni scoffed at the other woman “I am surprised it made it to me without being opened.”

Eileen flinched at the harshness of the phrase but could not blame the woman, “Yeah, well these days I tend to stick to water and Pepsi, I told you before I put all that baggage behind me and I’ve been sober two years now. Even got the chip to prove it,” she smiled proudly.

The brunette slumped her shoulders regretting what she had said but not enough to forget everything that the blonde had put her through. “Congratulations, that is really fantastic,” she said sincerely before attempting to walk past her.

Eileen stretched out her arms blocking her path, “Roni I know my showing up was a surprise but it’s really important that I talk to you.”

“Look, I am glad that you cleaned yourself up but it’s late and I really need to get home.”

“Please, I know a lot of bad things happened between us but there was also a lot of good. We were going to adopt a baby together, at one point in time I was worthy enough for you to consider starting a family with, isn’t that worth at least ten minutes of your time?”

Roni thought deeply about the question. Once upon a time she had every intention of spending the rest of her life with the woman standing before her and then something dark had rooted itself in the woman and she had been forced to choose herself over their relationship. A heart wrenching decision that had taken her nearly a year to finally get over; however, she knew if she ignored Eileen she would never truly have closure.

“Are you alright to talk in here?” she said nodding her head indicating a return to the bar, unsure if the now sober blonde would be comfortable or not.

“It’s fine,” she smiled relieved that Roni was actually going to speak with her but also a renewed anxiety about what she was going to say.

Roni unlocked the door and ushered the blonde inside watching as she took a seat at the bar.

“Um, the couch in the back room will probably be more comfortable.”

“Right,” She said nodding sadly, knowing the reason for the move.

They sat down at opposite ends of the battered old couch, instantly recognizing it as the one that had once resided in their shared apartment.

“So, I heard you ran into a bit a trouble with the Belfrey corporation,” Eileen stated suddenly unsure of herself.

“Yea, well it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“No doubt. Especially with your baby faced watchdog around,” she smiled.

Roni smiled back but was quickly losing patience with the other woman, “Why are you here Eileen?”

The blonde immediately lowered her eyes not able to meet the other woman’s. She had planned this conversation out for weeks but sitting here now she was at a loss for words.

“Do you remember the first time we met?” She asked finally meeting the other woman’s eyes again.

“Yes,” She said sounding annoyed. “I got off after a ten hour shift bartending and then you took me to a bar, suppose that should have been the first hint.”

“It was a barcade actually and you got the high score on Space Paranoids,” she said ignoring the other woman’s tone. “And that is not the first time we met, that is the first time we went out. No, the first time we met you were working in that dive, The Tequila Worm, I was sitting near the back and you were waiting tables. I couldn’t keep my eyes off you all night and at some point some ogre grabbed you and I got up to help but before I could, you twisted out of his arms and punched him square in the Adam’s apple.

Roni thought back for a moment, she had completely forgotten about the incident, unfortunately they were a dime a dozen in seedy places such as her place of former employment.

“It was then that I knew that you were not just a pretty face, you were a strong willed woman who respected herself. The kind of woman that could make someone feel important if she gave you the time of day.”

Eileen was clearly struggling with the next part and Roni waited for her to continue.

“The problem was I didn’t respect you. During my lowest points I Iied, manipulated...cheated.” It was the first time the blonde had ever admitted to the brunette that there had been other women while they were together. Roni had of course known about many of them and had confronted her at various times in their relationship but the indiscretions had always been denied.

“And I am truly sorry for everything I did or said that ever made you doubt that you weren’t the most important person in my life. I just want you to know that from the first time to the last time and everytime in between, when I said I loved you, I meant it. With all my heart I swear I meant it.”

Roni sat there listening to the blonde’s story as tears began to fill her eyes and could think of only one thing to say, “Go fuck yourself Eileen.”

The blonde looked down in shame and attempted to reach for the other woman’s hand who quickly pulled away as if she had been burned. At this very moment she was being shown glimmers of the old Eileen, the one that could be sweet and thoughtful and the image was warring with the one she was left with the last few months they were together.

“Why did you come now, after all this time?” The brunette stood up demanding to know.

“Ninth step, making amends. I finished everybody else off a while ago, but you, you were the hardest to face.

Tears were freely streaming down the brunette’s face now, “Do you know how long I waited to tell you off, how angry I was, am?”

“I know, so scream, hit me, break things. Do whatever you need to do. It eats away at me to know that I hurt you and I deserve all of it."

“Stop being so understanding!”

Eileen rose in attempt to calm the other woman down but was quickly pushed away from her. Roni collapsed onto the couch the blonde not far behind, she reached out to hug the brunette relieved that this time she did not pull away.

 

       Roni woke up and found herself nestled against her ex girlfriend, emotionally drained they had both fallen asleep on the couch. They still fit together perfectly she noted sadly feeling the rise and fall of the other woman’s chest and she still smelled the same, if not for the now absent aroma of scotch. She listened to their shared heart beats until she felt the undeniable feeling one gets when being stared at and looked up to indeed find a pair of emerald eyes looking down at her.

“Good morning Sharon,” the blonde said gently stroking the other woman’s hair.

Roni was unsure if it was the use of her real name, the emotional break down, or the familiar feeling of safety while being held against the blonde but she reached up and kissed the other woman’s lips.

Eileen was confused as to why Roni had kissed her but was too enamored with the sweet honey taste of the brunette’s mouth to question it. They continued on like this for a few minutes before the younger woman felt herself being pulled on top of the other.

 _“This is actually happening,”_ she thought still not quite understanding why. When she had come to Hyperion Heights the most she had hoped for was leaving on good terms with Roni. She had certainly dreamed of this happening, her apologizing to the woman she forgiving her, they declare their undying love for each other get married, buy a white picket fenced house and live gayly ever after, but never in a million years did she think it was actually going to happen.

The blonde deepened the kiss before she started her way down the older woman’s body and the moment the blonde reached her belly Roni was pulled from her pleasure induced delirium.

 _“Oh shit,”_ she silently screamed. What had she done? She looked down at the oblivious woman her heart shattering at what she must do.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Roni said pulling her hands away from the blonde’s shoulders. Eileen immediately stopped and did so with a look of unmasked hurt.

“Why?” The blonde asked confused and almost pleadingly.

“Besides that we split up almost a decade ago there is the glaring fact that you are a recovering alcoholic and I own a bar, how is that good for you?”

“Please, please,” she said tears returning to her eyes knowing what the brunette was saying was true but unwilling to admit it. “We can make it work, I know we can. I love you.”

“No,” she said sadly but firmly, gently pushing the other woman off of her. “I’m sorry, I’ve made things more complicated.”

“Maybe it really would have been better if I had never come here,” she said completely crestfallen.

“No, it’s my fault I should never have started something I could not finish, but I am glad you came. I hadn't realized it at first but, for my own good, I needed to forgive you.”

"Do you really forgive me? There is just so much."

"I know, but I do and I actually do feel a lot better."

“Thank you, I just hope that one day I can fully forgive myself for all I did to you.”

The brunette nodded, “Just focus on staying clean and then one day you will wake up and realize that you have.”

She simply nodded in agreement, “I should get going, I was going to head out east. Try and get myself a fresh start in Maine or something.”

“Are you sure, I mean Belfry has her hands pretty full with just me, can you imagine what it would be like if she had to deal with the two of us,” she said attempting a smile.

“No, being in this city...being this close to you," she admitted. "It would just be too hard, besides you’ve got your watchdog with you,” she tried smiling back. “Goodbye love, maybe in another life we can be together, I am only sorry that I could not make it be this one,” she said reaching her arms around the other woman.

“Stay safe Eileen and know that there always will be a place for you in my heart,” she said kissing the blonde’s tear soaked cheek before she walked out of her bar and her life forever.

 


End file.
